Opinion Piece: Public-Private Partnerships Can Help Revive South Africa’s Infrastructure, Unlocking Growth and Prosperity

By Mamiki Matlawa, Group Business Development Executive at ACTOM

South Africa is currently grappling with several major challenges such as unreliable water and electricity supply and ageing transportation infrastructure, resulting in some municipalities falling short on service delivery and being placed under administration.

One of the most crucial issues facing water boards and utilities across South Africa is ageing infrastructure, which needs to be replaced urgently as it is beginning to impact water supply. Despite a reduction in load shedding, the country still faces challenges with its distribution network, which has seen the introduction of load reduction in some areas that experience overload to protect outdated equipment and infrastructure.

At the same time, Transnet’s railway network has suffered significant theft and vandalism over the past few years, coupled with inadequate investment in rolling stock and infrastructure maintenance. This has seen a decrease in South Africa’s railway transport capacity, shifting a large portion of freight to the country’s road network.

The impact of these challenges on the South African economy has been profound, stifling growth, hampering investment and exacerbating inequality, ultimately threatening the stability and future prosperity of the country.

First-class service delivery

To remedy these challenges, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) must be encouraged to help government fast-track its goals of creating robust infrastructure and first-class service delivery. PPPs can cover various sectors like transport, energy and water, facilitating diverse projects and demonstrating successful collaborations. Private sector participation improves service quality and efficiency, bringing innovative solutions and maintaining high standards.

One of the specific benefits that PPPs offer government is the ability to access private funding quickly due to the relative lack of bureaucracy in terms of allocating investments. PPPs can also unlock funding for local municipalities that do not have money to spend on required infrastructure upgrades. This is as an increasing number of private sector companies become involved in the municipalities where they operate.

An example of a successful PPP of this nature is the Msunduzi Municipality, which encompasses the city of Pietermaritzburg. Hewlett Aluminium has assisted with repairs to Umgeni Water infrastructure, playing a critical role in enhancing public services and infrastructure resilience. This collaboration not only improves access to essential water services but also demonstrates how effective partnerships can mobilise resources and expertise to address urgent infrastructure needs.

By leveraging private sector strengths, PPPs can thus help address infrastructure challenges, accelerate development and improve service delivery, fostering economic growth and a better quality of life in South Africa.

Implementation challenges

However, the implementation of PPPs in South Africa is not without challenges. In some instances, public sector resources might not have a full comprehension of the PPP model or lack the political will to implement such partnerships, which could delay implementation.

One of the biggest challenges facing infrastructure development in South Africa is extortion by so-called “construction mafias” which could lead to some projects being disrupted. Fortunately, there are indications that government is formulating an approach to tackle these issues.

Ultimately, for PPPs to succeed, both the private and public sectors need to be open to and embrace this form of partnership. PPPs should be viewed as a solution to some of the major infrastructure challenges faced by South Africa.

However, PPPs must also involve civil society. One of the major shifts that happened with the advent of democracy 30 years ago is that everything related to infrastructure development has been left to government, with civil society choosing not to get involved. Unfortunately, not all expectations have been met and significant headway will only be made with the involvement of the private sector and civil society.